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Tyson pouted soed me so hard he almost cracked my ribs "Percy, be careful! Do not let monsters kill you dead!"

I tried to nod confidently, but it was too uy He sobbed and say toward the ar spears and swords

"You should let hi stuck in the armory Can't you tell?"

Poseidon shook his head "It is bad enough II must protect him"

"You should trust him," I said "Not try to protect hione too far, but then he looked down at the uy in the crawfish chariot was co closer to the palace

"Oceanus approaches," my father said "I must od before, but I didn't see how my dad could face this Titan and win

"I will hold," Poseidon proive up my doift I gave you last summer?"

I nodded and pulled out my camp necklace It had a bead for every summer I'd been at Camp Half-Blood, but since last year I'd also kept a sand dollar on the cord My father had given it to me for my fifteenth birthday He'd told ured out what hemachines in the school cafeteria

"The ti," he promised "With luck, I will see you for your birthday next week, and ill have a proper celebration"

He sht in his eyes

Then the entire sea grew dark in front of us, like an inky stor in Thunder crackled, which should've been i I sensed a wave of fear roll through the arodly forood luck,hiod assureat that any rate

"Good-bye, Father," I ed

Then I turned away I willed the ocean currents to aid me Water swirled around me, and I shot toward the surface at speeds that would've caused any normal human to pop like a balloon

When I looked back, all I could see were flashes of green and blue as ht the Titan, and the sea itself was torn apart by the two armies

THREE

I GET A SNEAK PEEK AT

MY DEATH

If you want to be popular at Camp Half-Blood, don't come back from a mission with bad news

Word of my arrival spread as soon as I walked out of the ocean Our beach is on the North Shore of Long Island, and it's enchanted so most people can't even see it People don't just appear on the beach unless they're deuys (It's happened--but that's another story)

Anyway, that afternoon the lookout on duty was Connor Stoll froot so excited he fell out of his tree Then he blew the conch horn to signal the careet me

Connor had a crooked smile that uy, but you should always keep one hand on your wallet when he's around, and do not, under any circu creaot curly brown hair and is a little shorter than his brother, Travis, which is the only way I can tell them apart They are both so unlike my old enemy Luke it's hard to believe they're all sons of Hermes

"Percy!" he yelled "What happened? Where's Beckendorf?"

Then he saw my expression, and his smile melted "Oh, no Poor Silena Holy Zeus, when she finds out"

Together we climbed the sand dunes A few hundred yards away, people were already strea and excited Percy's back, they were probably thinking He's saved the day! Maybe he brought souvenirs!

I stopped at the dining pavilion and waited for the down there to tell theazed across the valley and tried to remember how Camp Half-Blood looked the first tio

Fro Hills ringed the valley On the tallest, Half-Blood Hill, Thalia's pine tree stood with the Golden Fleece hanging fro the ca now I could see hi up sht spread the woods To lowed fro down its side Twelve cabins--one for each Olyod--made a horseshoe pattern around the commons area Farther south were the strawberry fields, the ar House with its sky blue paint job and its bronze eagle weathervane

In soed But you couldn't see the war by looking at the buildings or the fields You could see it in the faces of the de up the hill

There weren't as o So Others--we tried not to talk about theone over to the enemy

The ones ere still here were battle-hardened and weary There was little laughter at camp these days Even the Hermes cabin didn't play so many pranks It's hard to enjoy practical jokes when your whole life feels like one

Chiron galloped into the pavilion first, which was easy for him since he's a white stallion froroilder over the sureen T-shirt that said MY OTHER CAR IS A CENTAUR and a bow slung over his back